Still not clear what are you trying to convey, anyways ...

Submitted by Proud Indian (India), May 28, 2008 at 06:04

Hi farman,

I am first and foremost an indian and then an athiest born in a hindu family ( That might sound a bit strange to you because being an athiest is completely alien to a muslim.. anyways). I have made up my mind not listening to any BJP / RSS / SANGH rhetoric but my views are based on the verdicts and the backdoor exit which people use to ease out of tricky situations.

I am glad you pointed out the common civil code issue. See there is a difference in adhering to customs and adhering to laws.. I have absolutely no problem if some one follows the customs prevailing in thier respective religions.. following customs and rituals is a personal perogative, using customs and rituals for issuing justice socially common issues such as divorce and inheritance and to some extent criminal is absolutely wrong. This leads to confusion.

Let me cite you an example.. ( for the sake of being politically correct i'll quote you two ). As per Hindu customs, a son is considered as the successor or heir to all the property . But recently there has been a law which states that even daughters can stake their claim .. This is a progressive law and hindus support it ( atleast majority of them do...)

Now let me take the issue of triple talaq.. It is a custom amongst muslims to say talaq 3 times in front of a maulvi and divorce his wife.. even today this custom is prevalent.. shouldnt there be a common law dictating divorce prooceedings applicable to each and every citizen irrespective of religion.

A person might get married according to the customs of his religion, he might revolve around an agni kund, say kabool, or say i do.. but when it comes to seperation there has to be common ground rules.. why oppose that?? if i quote the SHAH BANO CASE then you will again say that its an oft used case by politicians.. but the fact is if you go through the case , you will realise that yes we did change the constitutional frame work to accomodate a custom.. if civil laws are to be followed then why not criminal laws as well?

would you as a progressive muslim want india to implement the sharia law for muslims? i am sure you will say no thank you! thats because you want tho enjoy best of both worlds dont you?

The problem we face today in india that we bring our religion out of our houses and advertise it when it is supposed to be a very private affair... And what about our politicians?? they love to have posterboys for thier parties.. Secular parties parade thier bearded muslim candidates, So called communal parties sport Tilaks on thier foreheads and so on. The trouble arises when one particular community is pandered and the rest are ignored!

The AIMPLB vehemently denies any attempts for reforms by others nor do the evolve.. the reason is simple.. They percieve any change in the laws as an attempt to undermine thier faith.. POliticians fan this feeling and a common uneducated fellow sees in the same light... Why only you , i will advocate the same to those who advocate laws based on hindu religion, christian religion and so on..

The problem is we have sufficent intellectuals who often raise thier voices to debate these issues.. and i am afraid your community has too less... Question beliefs , question customs, if they are not harmful adopt them, if they supress your logic and create rifts, throw them in the attic where they belong to..

I forgot, if you question your beliefs and customs, some mullah or maulvi will issue a fatwa against you which will be very hard to escape!

and one more thing, Modis and advanis reside inside most of the muslims as well ( we see them in muslim dominated areas and during the riots were roles were reversed in some areas of mumbai), its only the huge population disparity thats preventing them from coming out!

I hope you have it in you to be self critical and introspect..

Yours Truly

Proud Indian

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